Biographies5

Bjørn Sagstad is Artistic Director of the Military Wind Bands in Norway, professor at the Academy of Music (FHNW) in Basel Switzerland and an associate Professor at the University of Bergen (Grieg Academy of Music).

Bjørn undertook his formal training at the Royal Northern College of Music, the Grieg Academy of Music in Norway and the University of Tromsø and Trondheim/NTNU in Norway. He has worked with symphony orchestras in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Hong Kong and the USA and with all the professional military wind ensembles in Scandinavia along with the Royal Marine Band in Holland and the Royal Marines in Portsmouth UK. He was Chief Conductor of several orchestras and wind ensembles including the Prinsen Brass Ensemble (Denmark), the Kristiansund Symphony Orchestra and Opera (Norway), the Norwegian Navy Band and the Kristiansund Wind Ensemble.

He is a sort-after guest conductor and conducting lecturer giving masterclasses all over the world. His repertoire is extensive and includes orchestral, choral, music theatre, opera and ballet as well as specialising in contemporary music. He has made several recordings and been responsible for the premieres of a large number of new works. Bjørn is currently directing a five-year mentoring programme for young conductors sponsored by Dextra Musica and the Norwegian Band Federation.

Katie Thomas conducts professional choirs and non-professional choruses throughout the UK and Europe. Previous engagements include Guest Conductor BBC Singers, Guest Chorus Master MDR Rundfunkchor (Leipzig) and Guest Chorus Master of Gothenburg Symphony Choir & Vocal Ensemble.

Forthcoming highlights include collaborations with Vocalconsort Berlin and Le Foyer des Artistes. In the UK, Katie’s regular work is with the BBC Symphony Chorus (as well as Vocal Coach and Assistant Chorus Master), Associate Conductor of the 250-voice Barts Choir of London and Conductor of the Sherborne Summer School of Music Choral Course.

She is a visiting conductor to the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and the choirs of the Royal College of Music. She is a tutor in choral conducting technique for the Association of British Choral Directors and adjudicates at choral festivals worldwide for INTERKULTUR.

As a soprano, Katie was a member of professional choirs including The Monteverdi Choir, Polyphony and the Academy of Ancient Music, touring major international concert venues including the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Musikverein Vienna, and the Carnegie Hall New York. With London Voices, she has recorded numerous films and video-game sound tracks, chiefly at Abbey Road Studios, as well as broadcasting extensively on TV and national radio.

In 2020, Katie was elected Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) for distinguished service to the music profession and for significant contribution in the field of conducting and choral music.

Malcolm Singer composer, conductor and teacher, was Director of Music at the Yehudi Menuhin School for 19 years and currently teaches Composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

He read music at Magdalene College, Cambridge before studying in Europe with both Nadia Boulanger and Gyorgy Ligeti. He was later awarded a Harkness Fellowship, spending two years at Stanford University, California.

Malcolm has many works to his name and is particularly known for his choral music and his pieces for young people. His many commissioners have included the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Singers and a piece for Lord Menuhin which was premièred in the Royal Albert Hall in London. Perfect Pitch (to poems by Nick Tozek) was recently performed by several hundred school children at the Shipley Festival in both Surrey and Sussex and last year Clarion Call was premièred in the Sherborne Summer School concert series, ‘Concertfest’. He is currently working on a piece for the Drayton Philharmonic Orchestra in Ohio, USA.

Rodolfo Saglimbeni returned to live in his native Venezuela in 1987 to become one of its leading conductors. He studied at the RAM (where he won many prizes) with Colin Metters, George Hurst and John Carewe and in Rome with Franco Ferrara. He was first runner up at the Besançon International Competition for Conductors and also won fellowships from the British Council and the Philharmonia Chorus. He was Associate Conductor of the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra and is the founder and Artistic Director of the Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho Symphony Orchestra. He is currently the Artistic Director of the Caracas Municipal Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela, the Universidad Nacional de Cuvo Symphony Orchestra in Mendoza Argentina and Principal Conductor of the National Orchestra of Chile.

Rodolfo’s concerts are regularly broadcast on radio and television in Venezuela and the South American Network. He has conducted symphonic, operatic and ballet repertoire extensively in Italy, Spain, France, the USA and many South American countries including his recent debut at the legendary Colon Theatre in Buenos Aires. His recordings on CD radio and television include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and the works of many Latin American composers. He holds the position of professor of conducting at the University Institute for Musical Studies in Caracas and the Mozarteum School. As a founder member of “El Sistema” in the provinces of Venezuela, he has been tutor and advisor in conducting for many young conductors including Gustavo Dudamel, who started his conducting studies in one of the workshops and seminars organised periodically by the National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela.

Apart from his main conducting activities and his work at Sherborne Summer School of Music, Rodolfo organises seminars for conducting students of professional and youth orchestras, music schools and universities in Europe and South America.

Timothy Uglow is a versatile, dynamic and inspiring conductor, organist and harpsichordist whose work has been heard on all UK classical radio stations and beyond. He is the Director of Music at Worksop College and North Notts Chamber Choir, having previously been Organ Scholar at Salisbury Cathedral, Canterbury Cathedral and Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge. He has numerous CD recordings to his name: early recordings date back to his time as a chorister at Wells Cathedral, whilst in more recent ones he features as organist or conductor. As an organist, he has performed as a soloist in many of the UK’s leading cathedrals and concert halls and he brings to the summer school a wealth of experience working with both amateur and professional choirs.

Stephen Varcoe was for many years a leading international baritone soloist, with a wide repertoire ranging from the Baroque to Contemporary music.

Among his more than 150 recordings are works by Purcell, Handel and Bach with the John Elliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir; Haydn and Beethoven Masses with Richard Hickox and a large number of songs with piano. These include Schubert, Fauré, Chabrier and Hahn with Graham Johnson, Parry, Stanford and Finzi with Clifford Benson and Grainger with Penny Thwaites.

Since retiring as a performer, Stephen has taught notably at the Royal College of Music where he directs song classes and coaches individual students. This and his Doctorate in Performance make him ideally suited to teach at Sherborne Summer School where he has been now for several years.